Lantigua-Nunez v. US Coast Guard

── Lantigua-Nunez v. US Coast Guard ── Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Date: May 01, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit No. 24-2067 JUAN JOSÉ LANTIGUA-NÚÑEZ, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES COAST GUARD; UNITED STATES; TODD BLANCHE, Acting Attorney General, Defendants, Appellees,* MIKAEL M. ALLERT; PAUL CHAHAL; MATTHEW B. LANE; JOFFREY BAGWELL; JOHN DOE 1 THROUGH 5, Defendants. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Francisco A. Besosa, U.S. District Judge] [Hon. Bruce J. McGiverin, U.S. Magistrate Judge] Before Gelpí, Thompson, and Dunlap, Circuit Judges. Josué Emanuel Castellanos-Otero, with whom Rafael González-Vélez Lawyers, P.S.C. was on brief, for appellant. David L. Peters, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, with whom Yaakov M. Roth, Acting Assistant * Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 43(c)(2), Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is automatically substituted for former Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi as appellee. Attorney General, and Charles W. Scarborough, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, were on brief, for appellees. May 1, 2026  GELPÍ, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Juan José Lantigua-Núñez ("Lantigua-Núñez") initiated this action against the United States Coast Guard (USCG) under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA)'s law enforcement proviso. He alleged USCG agents used unlawful force when they fired several gunshots at a vessel he was helming, two of which hit him and caused serious injuries to his left arm. The USCG moved to dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The district court granted the USCG'S motion, reasoning that Lantigua-Núñez's claim fell under maritime jurisdiction and was therefore exclusively governed by the Suits in Admiralty Act (SIAA). The court then denied his request to amend his complaint to add an SIAA claim because that claim would have been time-barred. He now asks this Court to reverse the district court's decision. For the following reasons, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND A. Facts We draw our facts from the operative complaint. Legal Sea Foods, LLC v. Strathmore Ins. Co., 36 F.4th 29, 30 (1st Cir. 2022). On April 27, 2021, a USCG helicopter and "cutter"1 1"A 'Cutter' is [] any CG vessel 65 feet in length or greater, having adequate accommodations for crew to live on board." Assistant Commandant for Capability (CG-7) Office of Cutter Forces (CG-751), U.S. Coast Guard, https://www.dco.uscg.mil/Our- - 3 - approached a "go-fast vessel"2 ("the vessel") in international waters off the coast of Puerto Rico. Lantigua-Núñez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was operating the vessel with two other individuals aboard. The USCG first fired warning shots in the direction of the vessel and then, when it failed to stop, fired live rounds at the engine to disable it. Two of those rounds struck Lantigua-Núñez in his left arm. After being struck the second time, Lantigua-Núñez fell to the vessel's deck, causing him to release the accelerator and the vessel to stop. He remained on the deck, bleeding for thirty minutes, before the USCG cutter arrived. He was then helicoptered to the Centro Médico Hospital in San J